Jordan Henderson wants Jon Flanagan’s future to be resolved, to prevent the homegrown defender from leaving Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of this season.
Flanagan’s current one-year deal ends in June and talks over a new agreement have stalled. But now that the full back has proved his fitness following a serious injury, Henderson wants to see his team-mate rewarded with a contract extension that reflects his value to Liverpool.
The defender, who featured in Roy Hodgson’s England squad before injury struck in summer 2014, is now back in the first-team picture at Anfield having had two knee operations during an 18-month period in which he was unable to play for either club or country.
Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has already lauded Flanagan’s perseverance during an arduous recovery period and now Henderson has provided the 23-year-old with a glowing character assessment and urged the club to tie him down to a long-term deal.
Along with Flanagan’s talent, Henderson also identified the versatile defender’s lifelong association with Liverpool as a key reason to keep him at the club, particularly following the departures of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher over the last two years.
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“It’s huge that it gets sorted out,” the Liverpool captain said.
“I don’t think players and people like Flanno grow on trees to be honest. You have people like him and Stevie and Carra who have come through the academy and the fans feel as though they are one of them really.
“His whole family supports Liverpool. He has been a Liverpool supporter since he was a kid and he has had a difficult time for the last year, two years, but what I have seen him do behind the scenes is incredible really, particularly how hard he has had to work.
“I was only out for three or four months myself but that felt long for me and it was difficult for me to handle because I had never experienced that length of time out.
“But for the injury he had and how long he was out, it was incredible the way he went about it. Every day he came in with a smile on his face, did his work and for me you need to be rewarding people like that for what he did. Now he is back and it is as if he has never been away.
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“He has been brilliant, training exactly the same. He is a huge player for us, a huge player for the club and the fans as well. It is in everyone’s interests for that to be sorted out soon.”
Flanagan was an unused substitute in Liverpool’s Capital One Cup Final defeat against Manchester City on Sunday but is in contention for a starting role when the two sides meet again in the Barclays Premier League on Wednesday night.